A Pinchbeck businesswoman has launched a petition calling for a change in the law after she discovered that a man who presented himself as a professional businessman had been convicted of a serious sexual offence and was using a different name.
Emma Watson, who runs the marketing business Specky & Ginge, met the man at a networking group in another part of the country. He later became her client, but she did not know that he had received an eight-year prison sentence, had been released on licence after four years and remained subject to sex-offender notification requirements indefinitely.
Ms Watson said she searched the name he was using before working with him, but found nothing to indicate his criminal history.
“When I searched the name he was using, nothing appeared. He presented himself as an ordinary business professional and subsequently became my client.”
Impact on her business and confidence
Ms Watson said the networking group had previously been a safe place where she could develop her business, support other business owners and build professional relationships. She said the experience had a significant effect on her as a single parent.
“That networking group had previously been a safe space for me – a place where I could grow my business, support other business owners and build trusted, professional relationships,” said Emma.
“As a single parent, that damage was not merely professional. If affected my confidence in earning the money needed to support myself and my little boy.”
She said she stopped networking for five years and lost what she described as a major way of promoting and growing Specky & Ginge. She also said her confidence in selling was severely damaged and that meetings alone with male clients no longer felt safe.
“I stopped networking for five years. I lost a major way of promoting and growing my business. My confidence in selling was severely damaged, and meetings alone with male clients no longer felt safe. The professional environment in which I had previously thrived became something I feared.”
What the petition is calling for
Under current law, registered sex, violent and terrorist offenders must report changes of name to the police. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 strengthened the rules applying to registered sex offenders by requiring advance notification and allowing police to restrict applications in certain cases.
However, Ms Watson says that reporting a name change is not the same as requiring permission, and that restrictions are not automatically applied to every serious offender.
Her petition calls for a mandatory approval process before anyone convicted of murder, manslaughter, rape, child sexual offences, serious domestic abuse, stalking or another serious violent or sexual offence can change their name or begin using a different one.
“It is about ensuring rehabilitation cannot become reinvention at the expense of victims and public safety,” said Emma.
The petition was launched earlier this month on Change.org. It can be found by searching for ‘Stop serious offenders changing their names to hide their criminal past.’
